During the Disklavier/Video Recordings of the competition, contestants performed on Disklavier Pro pianos in Moscow, Shanghai, Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York, and Paris. During the recording process, the Disklavier Pros recorded the MIDI files in Yamaha’s high-resolution XP format. These highly-nuanced MIDI files were played back to the screening jury at the Piano Salon at Yamaha Artist Services Inc. in New York City.

If you have a Disklavier piano, you may download these files to a floppy disk or a USB flash drive and play them on your Disklavier. Playback is possible on other MIDI devices, but it will not be as acurate or as expressive. In the case of electronic playback devices, the piano sound will be inferior to that of a real piano. Playback on other MIDI devices is not recommended. NOTE: Low-end MIDI devices, such as computer sound cards, may not recognize or properly play the incremental pedal data.

These performances are offered to you in three MIDI formats. Download the contestant's complete program by clicking the link for one of these collections. Alternatively, download any single piece as an Enhanced SMF by clicking the link to the individual piece.

MIDI Files in Yamaha’s XP Format

This format captures extensive details on the nuances of the pianist’s playing, and is intended for playback on Disklavier Pro pianos.
The XP format includes the traditional Note-On and Note-Off events describing the piano’s hammer and damper movements, but measures these on a scale from 0 to 1023 (rather than the more-usual 0-to-127). Additional MIDI events describe the position of the key itself, allowing sensitive repetition. The movement of the sustain and una-corda pedals are captured continuously, on a scale from 0 to 255.
For the highest-quality playback results, we recommend playing MIDI files directly on your Disklavier Pro or Disklavier, rather than using a MIDI cable connection. Also, avoid editing these MIDI files in XP format, as many computer sequencers alter the order of the added events.

Standard MIDI File

This format is intended for playback on all Disklavier pianos and other MIDI devices that read Standard MIDI Files.
This format conforms to the normal MIDI specification, but includes data that is not often recorded or played back by other MIDI instruments, such as Note-Off velocity (from 0-127). Pedal data for sustain (the right pedal) and una corda (the left pedal) are recorded as continuous data from 0-127.

E-SEQ File

This format is intended for playback on early model Disklaviers that do not read Standard MIDI Files. The data is similar to that found in MIDI files in Yamaha’s XP Format.

Download and Installation Instructions for Windows

To download these files using a Windows computer, right click on one of the MIDI links. A mini menu will appear. Choose the option to save the file or link to disk.

If you clicked a link to an individual piece, you will have downloaded and saved a single piece. If you clicked a link to one of the collections, the file that you have downloaded and saved is a .zip archive. If you double-click it, your computer may automatically decode the file into a folder containing several MIDI files and one or two Disklavier directory files (PDISK and PSONG or PIANODIR).

If you are going to play these files on a Disklavier using floppy disk, copy all of the files including any directory files you downloaded. If you intend to play the files from a computer, you can discard the directory files.

Download and Installation Instructions for Macintosh

To download these files using a Macintosh computer, Control-click on one of the MIDI links. A mini menu will appear. Choose the option to save the file or link to disk.

If you clicked a link to an individual piece, you will have downloaded and saved a single piece. If you clicked a link to one of the collections, the file that you have downloaded and saved is a .zip archive. If you double-click it, your computer may automatically decode the file into a folder containing several MIDI files and one or two Disklavier directory files (PDISK and PSONG or PIANODIR).

If you are going to play these files on a Disklavier using floppy disk, copy all of the files including any directory files you downloaded. If you intend to play the files from a computer, you can discard the directory files.